Ben Cherington wasted no time to address the Pittsburgh Pirates after a failure of a first half in which they fired the manager, tied a dubious major-league record and endured the pendulum swing of successive sweeps that involved back-to-back series with shutout wins and losses.

On what is generally considered the slowest day in the sports calendar, the Pirates general manager made the first move leading up to what is expected to be a dizzying trade deadline July 31.

The Pirates dealt 33-year-old second baseman/outfielder Adam Frazier to Kansas City for 28-year-old Cam Devanney, a move that could help the Royals remain in wild-card contention. In Devanney, the Pirates acquired a versatile infielder who has 18 home runs in the minor leagues this season and could provide much-needed depth at shortstop.

It should be the first of many trades for the Pirates (39-58), who lost 26 of their first 38 games, tied an MLB mark by not scoring more than four runs in 26 consecutive games and saw attendance dip from an average of 21,239 last year to 18,479 through their first 47 home games.

Since the start of an abysmal August 2024 — when they lost 13 of their first 16 games, including 10 consecutive — the Pirates are 60-91 (.397). If ever there was a time for a major roster overhaul, this is it.

There was proof at the All-Star festivities in Atlanta that the Pirates have talent: On Saturday, top prospect Konnor Griffin fared well in the Futures Game. On Sunday, they drafted a pair of highly regarded prep right-handers in Seth Hernandez and Angel Cervantes. On Monday, Oneil Cruz stole the show in the Home Run Derby. On Tuesday, Paul Skenes touched triple digits on a strikeout in the All-Star Game.

The Pirates should be building around those players, along with top pitching prospect Bubba Chandler. Everyone else is considered trade chips, though the Pirates shouldn’t be having a fire sale. This isn’t about dumping salary but rather about finding ways to improve the roster for the immediate future.

“I think you have to listen on everybody except Skenes,” MLB Network analyst Dan O’Dowd, a former Colorado Rockies general manager, told TribLive. “It’s a much larger discussion, save it for another day because it would be painful in moving that kind of talent. Even if you had a great baseball deal on the table … I don’t know if you recover from the damage that does in your individual market with your fan base.

“That would be a hard one. I’m waiting as long as possible, until it makes a whole lot of sense where you just have no ability to keep him. But everybody else on my team is in play. There’s nobody that’s off-limits. You listen on every single player. You have to be a little bit ruthless at this point in time and realize that you’re not one player away from being a championship team, as good of a player as Paul Skenes is.”

O’Dowd shared his thoughts on the Pirates’ top trade bait:

Christopher Horner | TribLive Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller watches from the dugout after exiting the game during the sixth inning against the Mets on Friday, June 27, 2025, at PNC Park.  

1. Mitch Keller: Ignore his 3-10 record and focus instead on Keller’s 14 quality starts in 20 outings, a 3.48 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. Those numbers are comparable to his 2023 All-Star first half.

The 29-year-old right-hander has received almost no run support this season, as the Pirates scored one run or fewer in half of his starts and Keller pitched in 11 one-run games in the first half.

What makes Keller even more attractive is his controllable contract, which has three years remaining on the five-year, $77 million deal he signed in February 2024. Keller will earn $16.9 million next year, $18.4 million in 2027 and $20.4 million in 2028.

Those are high salaries for the Pirates to pay, especially when Skenes becomes eligible for arbitration, but are reasonable for a middle-of-the-rotation starter. And the Pirates have Chandler waiting for a promotion from Triple-A Indianapolis.

“If you’re going to trade Mitch, now is the time to do it because they’ve got good arms and they’ve got more coming,” O’Dowd said. “It’s a good time to maximize him. He’s a good major-league pitcher signed to a good contract.”

Christopher Horner | TribLive Pirates right fielder Bryan Reynolds cools off in the dugout after scoring against the Mets on Sunday, June 29, 2025, at PNC Park.  

2. Bryan Reynolds: The two-time All-Star outfielder is making $12.25 million but batted .225/.287/.369 with 12 doubles, 10 home runs and a team-best 46 RBIs in the first half.

For a team like the Pirates that demands its best players outperform their contracts, such numbers are unacceptable — and could make Reynolds expendable.

“Reynolds is a good major-league player, and I think he’ll be even better out of Pittsburgh, in a winning environment,” O’Dowd said. “He’s a really good player — a tough kid, he’s durable, a switch-hitter — and if he wasn’t put in a position of having to carry the load and is more of a complementary piece on a good team, he’s going to play up and above that.

“The problem they have with trading him is who do they replace him with? Even in the free-agent market, who they replace him with? I don’t know. That’s just a gigantic hole to replace him.”

Another problem is that Reynolds signed an eight-year, $106.75 million contract in April 2023 that includes a limited no-trade clause. He’s scheduled to make $14.25 million next season, then $15.25 million in each of the next four through his age 35 season.

“Why they ever gave that to him is mind-boggling,” O’Dowd said of the no-trade clause. “You give those out to guys that are superstars, not your above-average players. He can work through those issues, but I think it really hamstrings it.

“Reynolds still has upside but he’s having a terrible year, so clubs are going to discount his value based on his performance. I don’t know what you get for him.”

Christopher Horner | TribLive Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes celebrates after driving in a run with a single against the Cubs on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at PNC Park.  

3. Ke’Bryan Hayes: The 2023 NL Gold Glove third baseman remains elite, leading all players at his position with 11 defensive runs saved this season, and has stayed healthy this season.

But his offensive production is a problem. Hayes batted .238 with a .576 OPS with 12 extra-base hits and 31 RBIs in the first half, thanks to a .301/.333/.373 slash line in June.

“Is Ke’Bryan Hayes ever going to figure it out in Pittsburgh, or would a change of scenery help somebody unlock his swing because the other parts of his game are so elite?” O’Dowd said. “Hayes is just an underperforming defensive third baseman. If someone feels they can unlock his swing, what are they going to give up for that?”

Christopher Horner | TribLive Pirates reliever David Bednar pounds his glove after pitching against the Braves on May 9, 2025, at PNC Park.  

4. David Bednar: A two-time All-Star closer, the Mars alum is a hometown favorite and one of the most beloved and respected players in the clubhouse because of his positive personality and his charity work off the field.

After leading the majors by converting 92.9% of save opportunities and tying for the NL lead with 39 saves in 2023, Bednar struggled at times last season and dealt with a demotion to Indianapolis in April by dominating upon his return to the majors.

In 33 appearances since April 19, Bednar has a 1.74 ERA with 12 saves, 44 strikeouts against seven walks and has allowed only one homer. He was the NL reliever of the month in June, when he didn’t allow an earned run in 10 outings.

“In Bednar’s case, I think he’d be a great get at the trade deadline,” O’Dowd said, “but another club is looking at it and going, ‘It’s a mercurial risk. We have no idea what we’re going to get.’ I don’t know if you’re going to get a ton back there.”

While Bednar is making $5.9 million this season, he has one more year of arbitration remaining before qualifying for free agency, so he wouldn’t just be a stopgap solution for a contender.

O’Dowd wonders whether the return packages will give the Pirates pause on trading some of their controllable veterans.

“I don’t know if they’re going to get a ton of quality impact players back,” O’Dowd said, “so they might just end up holding onto them and see if they can unlock it themselves.”

Christopher Horner | TribLive Pirates shortstop Isiah Kiner Falefa prepares to bat against the Phillies on Friday, June 7, 2025, at PNC Park.  

5. Players on expiring deals: The Pirates are almost certain to trade shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa ($7.5 million), left-handed starter Andrew Heaney ($5.25 million), left fielder Tommy Pham ($4.025 million) and lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson ($3 million), given they are on one-year contracts.

“IKF, for as good of a season as he’s having, you’re going to get fringy role players back,” O’Dowd said. “You’re not going to get anything of tremendous value for him.”

It’s possible the Pirates could be motivated to package players to improve the return, but O’Dowd isn’t sure how much that would help.

“I don’t know if you’re still going to get somebody’s top-15 prospects,” O’Dowd said. “It’s hard. The trade deadline is wrought with getting crap back anyway, if you look back at it historically. So you’ve got to be realistic what you’re going to get back, even when you’re trading really good players. But I do think they’ve got to listen on anybody and stay really open-minded.”

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